Echography-Guided Surfactant Therapy to Improve Timeliness of Surfactant Replacement: A Quality Improvement Project

Objective: To improve time of surfactant administration with a surfactant replacement protocol based on semiquantitative lung ultrasound score (LUS) thresholds.

Study design: Quality improvement (QI), prospective, before-after, pilot study. In a 6-month period surfactant replacement was based only on inspired oxygen fraction (FiO₂) thresholds. In the second 6-month period, surfactant was given when either the FiO₂ or LUS exceeded the limits. The main QI measures were the proportion of neonates receiving surfactant within the first 3 hours of life and maximal FiO₂ reached before surfactant replacement. Secondary QI measures were the duration of respiratory support and ventilator-free days. Data were also collected for 1 year after the study to verify sustainability.

Results: Echography-guided Surfactant THERapy (ESTHER) increased the proportion of neonates receiving surfactant within the first 3 hours of life (71.4%-90%; P < .0001) and reduced the maximal FiO₂ reached before surfactant replacement (0.33 [0.26-0.5]) vs 0.4 [0.4-0.55]; P = .005). The global need for surfactant did not significantly change. ESTHER also resulted in a significant decrease in duration of invasive ventilation and ventilator-free days.

Conclusions: ESTHER improved the timeliness of surfactant administration and secondary QI indicators related to surfactant replacement.